


Love me tender

by Vaisra_Hecate



Series: Avengers: Sapphira & Erin [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Captain America Fandom - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-07-13 01:01:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7131707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vaisra_Hecate/pseuds/Vaisra_Hecate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Loving you before was easy, but now, I don't know anymore." Sapphira Klovosky had kept looking for Steve Rogers up until the new century. Finding the frozen soldier alive was one thing but finding his lost memory was another. </p><p>A fandom starting from the story of the first Avenger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prolougue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CharlotteDumont](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlotteDumont/gifts).



> I've written this story for my friend and this is still a work in progress, I hope you enjoyed.

“Love me tender, love me sweet, Never let me go, You have made my life complete and I love you so”. The melody of Norah Jones’ voice echoed in the dim lit room emitting calm waves of tender affection.

A sickening scratch resounded in the small apartment, and the recorder hanged exactly on one phrase ‘never let me go’ until it finally died down.

Sapph’s attention was brought back to reality when the music died. The sizzling sound of oil was the only thing echoing in her apartment now. She sighed. “Broken again” she muttered to herself. She switched off the stove and wiped her hands on her cotton apron. Frustrated, she blew on her hair. Sapph crossed the room to the piece of antique, she tapped on it a few times, until it played again.

Once again Norah Jones' voice rang a vibrato that sent chills down Sapph's spine.

"This junk is really old." Now that she had thought about it, her mind wandered back to the first time she had saw this peculiar piece of junk. It was normal to have antique furnishings in a house bought at the outskirts of the city. Usually the houses sold outside the modern world was completely separated by time. Junks like an old record player, a rickety rocking chair or even perfectly polished ceramics were obviously not from the era, design wise so to speak. She glanced back at the player, a _ t least it was still working... quite well _ , Sapph had thought.

What she liked about this old thing the most was the homey feeling it gave off. This was the only thing in her apartment that was separated by time after moving in five months ago after she was released from the hospital. She had completely renovated the place, the finished product looked like she was still living in the city. Modernized.

She sat down  on her brown leather couch just beside the player. The chilly feeling of the singer’s voice placed her in an indescribable peace. Her eyes began to close almost entering dreamland when a blurry figure of a lean muscular man penetrated her mind, meeting her at the back of her eye lids. Sleep almost enveloped her.

Bam!

She jerked at the sound.

Bam!Bam!Bam! It came louder than the first.

"What the fuck?" Cursed Sapph.  She sat up and quickly combed her wavy dark locks of off her face, Briskly, she went towards the irritating banging sound.

"What." Her expression annoyed, gaze steeled towards the red head.

"Sheesh? Is that how you answer your door every time?"

"I should've known. Someone who could be this rude early in the morning could only be one person" Sapph rolled her eyes with a sigh "What do you want Natasha." It was more of a statement than of a question, probably because she was interrupted when she had been, almost, dreaming of him. It had been years , no, maybe even forever that she had not seen the shadow, nor the back of him. She was devastated before, but now maybe she had moved on; accepted it to the point that she doesn't look for him and only waited whenever he entered her mind.

She snapped away from her musings. Sighing. "You really know how to ruin a moment..." muttered Sapph.

"Now. Now. Sapphira, I didn't know you were doing something pleasurable in broad daylight."

Sapph only looked at Natasha, perplexed that her friend thought of it greenly than normal people would. Instead of reacting, she dismissed the thought; waving her hand as a gesture.

Natasha Romanov raised a brow, questioning her sudden dismissal of what was usually their routinary banter.

"What's wrong, honey?" Natasha's voice became soft. Caring even, which throws Sapph off into a melancholic mood and trigger her to spill her thoughts to her colleague.

"I... It's nothing Natasha, It's just lack of sleep" lied Sapphira.

"Are you having bad dreams again? Does this have to do with you traveling...?"

Sapph only turned her attention to a far off space. "I thought we talked about this, you can't. Won't even think about. More over try to look for him in other realms. He's here."

"What if he isn't" she snapped.

Natasha moved to close the door. She grabbed Sapph's arm and led her to the plush couch that sat beside an antique phonograph. Natasha released a deep sigh, softly touching Sapph's locks in the process.  

"They're retrieving him so to speak. Steve Rogers"


	2. From Ice

It was agonizing. Waiting. 

The grandfather clock mocked her with it’s ticking sound as she waited before a mahogany carved counter. She rang the bell again, for the nth time she scoffed in her head, and the sound echoed eerily in the shop.

Today was the third Saturday. Her duty off from work. She decided to bring down the old phonograph to an old friend for repairs, the thing had finally given up on her after three agonizingly slow weeks. The slow weeks consisted of just walking around her home and sitting down on Russian mafia encounter footage. Totally boring, yet there were epic scenes. She could not believe that S.H.I.E.L.D satellites retrieved those. Sapph laughed at her thoughts as she reminisced one scene where she accidentally jabbed Clint's face and Clint went spiraling down three steps. Nose bloodied. Natasha on the other hand went out on a hilarious soundless laughing spree. How hard was that? Sapphira made a mental note to ask Natasha when they meet again.

In those three weeks she still have not heard from Natasha. After the redhead agent stated, on that one peculiar morning, that S.H.I.E.L.D had in fact found Captain Steve Rogers frozen in time under the vast Atlantic Ocean. The news was classified for and even for Natasha. But of course, Natasha had her little ways. She found out, hence the knowledge.

Sapph turned from the counter, obviously bored waiting for the man to show up.

She took a glance out of the window, mesmerized by the busy street before her. Her eyes squinted after a few minutes of realization. A commotion was happening right under her nose.

Someone cleared their throat. Sapph’s attention snapped back from the outside to the person who caught her attention. Her eyes narrowed for a moment before they softened.

“And who might you be?” Sapph questioned. Her voice cool.

This man, broad shoulders, long brown hair and piercing cold grey eyes gave a small kind smile which had Sapph step back, astounded by the genuine gesture. “Oh, right, um…” he reached out a hand. “James Buchanan Barnes, but my friends call me Bucky”

Sapph hesitated but eventually reached out, the strong grip was well felt by Sapphira. This grip was similar, the feeling it gives off was similar, like it was Steve’s hand that held her. The emotions threatened to burst out that moment but she held herself.

“Are you by any chance related to the owner of this place?” asked she.

He looked at her, brows questioning, “As a matter of fact, yes”

“You’re joking right?”

“Nope”

Sapph sighed “Well if that is the case, would you know Robert?”

“Robert? Oh, you mean uncle?” he chuckled. “Uncle already left the place and is permanently staying somewhere else”

Sapph could only nod in small understanding of the situation, now that Robert is gone, who would fix her machine? And he was really, really good at it and she praised him for his work.

“So what do yah need fixin, doll”? the question once more caught Sapph’s attention.

She silently pointed to her car outside. “Your car?”

Sapphira rolled her eyes, _ humor me more please?  _ she thought sarcastically. “It’s in the car”

“Well, ain’t we getting it now?”

“Yes, we are”

The two trotted off towards her car, popping the black sedan open in the back. Bucky whistled at the sight.

“Well, she is a beaut”

“You could say that” came Sapph's reply. It was a really old model of a phonograph that she tracked down to an antique store a few cities from here. It held memories, a lot of it, though some of them even faded now from her mind.

“Where in the world did you get this beaut?” Bucky said with a smile. Obviously fascinated by the design and the construction of the old piece of antique.

“A few cities down from here…” she trailed off. “So… how many days till you can fix this?” she looked at Bucky with crossed arms.

Bucky chuckled. “Just a day or two, I'd throw in a special service on this beaut for a pretty young lady like you”

Sapph rolled her eyes. Typical. She thought. “Keep that up young man” she started to walk towards her car's driver's door as soon as Bucky Barnes picked up the phonograph. She revved the engine and sped away leaving a trail of dust on her wake.

“She could've at least said goodbye.” Bucky coughed.

 

* * *

  
  


Sapph walked the familiar corridors of S.H.I.E.L.D. The cold grey walls still gave no warm welcoming feeling even though she worked here for about three years. It was funny actually that she hated going here. It was too much of a hassle for her, it even made her wonder how Natasha managed to like live there at the same time not. Well… maybe it was because something had caught Natasha Romanov's interest. She may want to have a conversation with that as well, Sapph mused. 

“You're smiling too much Natasha” Sapph said as soon as she saw the redhead from her peripheral vision, grinning.

“Whatever makes you say that?” Natasha played innocently.

“I told you. She. Is. Off. Limits” Natasha gulped her hand gesturing surrender from Sapph's gun. Sapphira sighed and put her gun away. Natasha was really on a spree today irking her to no end.  _ What is up with that woman? _

The door slid open with a swoosh. _ I know cliche right? _ But it comes with the whole agent thing. So, the redhead along with Sapph entered the bridge.

The bridge or headquarters was in its usual chaotic order. Fury was standing by large windows overlooking the endless clouds, his hands on his back, Sapph noted. It was his usual thinking pose and sometimes it meant something big was happening. He spoke with a deep voice, an authoritative gesture that you cannot mistake, and then turned around to face his two agents. Natasha leaned back the nearest bridge desk, or more likely, some contraption, looking so carefree and relaxed that Sapph wondered how low this red Russian had her guard down so she could sneak a couple of jabs. She grinned with mischievous thoughts but alas, she was pulled out of it when Fury coughed and eyed her. Sapph let out a sigh.

“So, what are we here for?” Natasha spoke while inspecting the obvious newly done coating of her fingernails. Fury only ignored her antics and proceeded to brief the two.

“As you have heard” Fury started as he gave the ‘I already know you know’ look to both Natasha and Sapph. “We have retrieve the super soldier from the depths of the ocean. I will be assigning both of you to assist in his recovery and understanding of our world today-”

Natasha gave a scoff “yea, after he almost tore my head off and I was just playing nurse” she muttered under her breath. Sapphira rolled her eyes. Natasha Romanov was an excellent agent, almost superhuman if you ask, but her lack of interest could only do her much. She’s so laid back that sometimes she makes these boring briefing ‘playful’ and Fury would always reprimand her for it. Sapph wondered if sometimes her comments were necessary, yet she has to admit it was fun observing her colleague.

“Agent, are you even in this world?” her boss’s voice boomed. Romanov laughed into her hand only to stop as both Sapph and Fury gave her intense annoyed look.

Aside from this entertaining briefing, Sapph had managed to process what was happening. The wait is over. She thought.

“When do we get to meet him?” she asked as soon as she felt Fury was done with his ‘instructions'.

The commander turned around and walked back to the farthest corner of the bridge. He clicked a button and the familiar whooshing sound was heard. Sapphira could hear her heart beat louder as excitement and a lot of different emotion gathered up in her chest.  _ Is this for real?  _ She repeatedly asked in her head.

“Meet, Captain Steve Rogers”

Steve Rogers who is also known as the original Captain America, walked in his classic glory. The traditional flag like design in tact in his jumpsuit yet the mask discarded. His unruly blonde hair glittered as the light reflected of it. Sapph had to look away momentarily when it hindered her sight.  He, for Sapphira, still looked like the one she knew. The one she ...cared for.

“Ladies” he said in a brief nod. Sapph stared,  _ finally he’s here in the flesh _ , the thought ran in her head. She felt her heart skip a beat when she caught sight of his smile. Oh, how this smile made her day before. Her soul smiled but her physical face still held the steele outerior she practiced.  _ Does... he even remember me? Would we still rekindle our past? It’s been eons.  _ Sapphira thought. It was a question she dread to ask herself more so to have answers for. But now that Steve was in front of her she’s been having this complicated battle in herself. Wondering, more like debating, on accepting this predicament or not. Accepting that what they had before was forever lost or to try and revive the feelings they harbored before. Sapphira sighed.  _ It’s too much thought for the day... Ugh _

She saw Natasha move to her side a snide look in her doll face. Sapphira shot her a glare as a warning but still the redhead continues.

“I didn’t know he was this kind of a hunk” Natasha moved into Sapph’s ear and whispered. Sapph blushed, but jabbed the red head agent slightly,  surely Natasha was just teasing her, though, it was not necessary. She had already told Natasha some of her intentions in this world , and one of that being Steve. When the two met, Natasha and Sapph, it was in a cold October. Sapphira could still remember it in detail how she got into S.H.I.E.L.D and became an agent. She could still remember the first punch Natasha Romanov a.k.a the Black Widow gave her when they first came eye to eye. Now that she recalled it, the events were memorable comedies.

She heard Steve cough and her reminiscing was placed on hold. She looked at him, slowly trailing her eyes on his features. An action she tried to ignore or more like prevented from doing.

Sapphira turned shyly when dark brown meets ocean blue. She cursed herself for being so demure  it was not appropriate for a hardened girl.  _ Damn it! What is with that ungodly smile?!  _ She screamed in her head. It would seem that she can’t control the reactions; for every time she tries, she remembers a figment from the past.

“Are… you alright, ma’am?” he questioned, one brow dropping low like how Sapph remembered him when he was sincerely concerned. She took a step back, the emotions were swelling now and she didn’t know how long she could handle them. She wanted to cry, scream and hug him for all the waiting she had done. But… the look from his eyes,  _ there’s not even a hint that he remembers. _

Her thoughts and emotions were suddenly halted, distracted;  thanks to a certain redhead laughing her eyes out.

“Ma’am? Seriously?” she said, hand on the hip and a brow mocking. Steve, was surprised, when did women started talking like this? Sapph could tell from the look on his face. “I mean she's old but seriously?”

“Spare the guy your senseless humor, Nat” the black haired shook her head disapprovingly.

Natasha gave her a look saying ‘what the hell did I do?’ but still explained herself when her co-agent didn’t, not even an inch, let up.  With a sigh and a hand failing “But his speech, it’s so vintage, I can’t help it Sapphira! Why don’t you let me have my fun before I let you have him your way?”

Without warning, Sapphira’s face turned red, embarrassed “W-what are you saying dumbass!?”

“Now… now, ladies, language”

Natasha stopped and Sapphira thought she had calmed down but she thought wrong. Natasha burst out laughing and started hitting the nearby desk. Everyone on bridge was looking at them. Natasha without a single thought of embarrassment already had tears on the corner of her eyes as she clutched her aching stomach. Nick Fury’s brows knitted together, obviously he had enough of this humor.

_ What is with Natasha? _

Fury cleared his throat and finally the agent stopped at her antics. She straightened up but still leaned back on the nearby desk, uttering “sorry”

She could not believe that they were going to baby sit. Natasha exasperatedly sighed. She walked begrudgingly behind Sapphira and the well mannered super soldier as they gave him a tour of the headquarters. Natasha yawned.

“When will this end” she drawled out. Sapphira paid no mind while Steve Rogers only gave her an impassive look. “Alright. I can’t” Sapph knew what happens next when Nat says that phrase.

Sapphira turned around so fast that she almost bumped into the Captain. Due to her slight mistake, she now could only see Natasha’s back getting farther as she ran towards a different direction.

“So much for being friends” angrily she muttered. Sapphira sighed, well she could just continue with this anyway.

“You don’t have to accompany me if it bores you so much” piqued Steve. Sapphira shook her head in response.

“Nat has always been like that. It doesn’t bother me, taking you on a tour”

“I see”

“So? Shall we head on?”

Sapphira started to walk but noticed the blonde did not follow. She looked at him, wondering why. He just smiled his usual toothy grin.

“If you would like, I’m feeling a bit hungry. I feel like eating out. I mean, it’s almost noon and it would be good to have a change in scenery” he blurted. Sapphira watched him with a confused look but conceded and they went on their way.

  
  


* * *

 

She should’ve known. 

Sapphira and Steve stood in front of her not so ‘sports-car’ car. She fumbled into her pockets as she had indeed found that her keys were missing.

“That Natasha!” she grumbled. What was standing before them was a cheap two door car that could barely give them space to breathe. This would make them more physically close and Sapphira couldn’t bear the thought of staying in the car with the man she wanted to jump at. She at least had the decency to spare the memory deprived man of her wild hurricane of thoughts and feelings. Sapphira bit her lip and rubbed her face in frustration.  _ I will definitely kill that woman if I see her.  _ She vowed silently.

“Hey, it’s still a vehicle” the captain said with a smile, almost laughing.

“And you find this amusing?” Sapphira snapped. Steve took a step back, hand in front of him.

“No” a chuckled escaped his lips that in turn had Sapph glare at him. He coughed a “no” and looked away.

Sapphira sighed,  _ Just have to make do with what’s in front. And my stomach’s grumbling anyway. _

So the two headed away, cramped in that very small vehicle you can barely call a car.

“You know this car ain’t so bad, what’s this for?” Steve pressed the button before Sapphira could even react. Steve instantly jumped back, the stereo boomed loudly while the song rang with it’s perky and lively tune.

_ “Baby I’m worth it! Uhuh. I’m worth it!” _

Sapphira instantly blushed, a grumble already under her lips. Obviously cursing one red head named Natalia Alianovna Romanova. She slammed her hand on the stereo button and the song instantly died out. Silence consumed them as quickly as it left before.

“What was that noise!?” Steve exclaimed. Sapphira rolled her eyes, she still couldn’t get over that Captain has this old language.  _ figures, he won’t adjust that quickly to the era. Who could blame him anyway. _

“That… was Fifth Harmony”

“Harmony doesn’t have ranks in them, do they?” he asked, almost innocently that Sapphira could not hold on to her irk. 

“You should get out more, Fifth Harmony is a musical band, you know, like those jazz...Louie” she snapped her fingers, like the name was in the tip of her tongue.

“Louis Armstrong, right. I understand the comparison” He said. He looked at her for a moment, unexpectedly meeting Sapphira’s eyes. As normal as it seemed with him giving a smile after a good conversation, Sapphira could not help it but to blush and turn away, a curse following in the wind.

How could someone this gorgeous have that oh so godly smile?

Sapphira inhaled sharply as she felt something drop on her tigh. From a peripheral view she could see Steve’s knee pressing closely to her’s. The car was so cramped that even driving was difficult. Other than that, it seemed like the captain’s hand rested on her hands as they pulled into a stop. Unconsciously.

“So. Is burger fine with you?” Sapphira changed gears and that seemed to have Steve Roger’s hands off her. Steve rubbed his chin, like contemplating if burger was the right choice for a grown man like him. He chuckled, and Sapphira could only wonder why.

“Do they make it like the old days? I haven’t had that for… you know ages”

“Well, apparently some aren’t purely beef but, you could say it’ll taste like when you first had it” she said nonchalantly. She zoomed again out into the open road then to narrow streets. Among them was a signage that Steve just had to laugh at it.

“Are you playing with me? They really have Diners like before huh.” he muttered under his breath. Sapphira stopped perfectly on an empty spot and let the engine die with a quick push of a button.

“You’ve been to war Captain, and never came back until today, what would you expect? The oldies are the new black in this era” she said, as she pushed the vintage door of the small diner.

“The new black? Hey!” he called out but Sapphira had already gone in.

 


End file.
